These Regulations amend the Social Security Benefit (Computation of Earnings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. (NI) 1996 No 520) and correspond to provisions contained in Regulations made by the Treasury with the concurrence of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain.

Regulation 2 amends the Social Security Benefit (Computation of Earnings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 to replace the existing definition of, and reference to, a service user group with the revised definition of, and reference to, a claimant participating as a service user.

A service user is a person consulted by certain statutory bodies, the Department for Social Development or the Department for Employment and Learning, or their carer (so the carer of a carer of a user may also fall within the definition). Payments of expenses arising out of the person’s participation as a service user may be disregarded when calculating earnings.